City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: NOVEMBER 19, 2024 FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WARDS: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 SUBJECT: AWARD A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR BID NO. 8066 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023/24 MEDIAN LANDSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS TO MARINA LANDSCAPE, INC. OF ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,638,676 ISSUE:
Award a construction contract for Bid No. 8066 for the construction of Fiscal Year 2023/24 Median Landscape Improvements to Marina Landscape, Inc. of Orange, California, in the amount of $1,638,676.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Award a construction contract for Bid No. 8066 for the construction of Fiscal Year 2023/24 Median Landscape Improvements to Marina Landscape, Inc. of Orange, California, in the amount of $1,638,676; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute the construction contract with Marina Landscape, Inc., including making minor and non-substantive changes, subject to the availability of budgeted funds.
BACKGROUND:
In response to the call for increased conservation by the State Water Resources Control Board in Fiscal Year 2014/15, the Public Works Department (Public Works) received a State mandate to reduce water usage, requiring the City to eliminate irrigation to turf medians, leaving only irrigation for the existing trees. This effort caused the turf to deteriorate which raised concerns from City residents regarding the aesthetic appearance. Public Works coordinated with local water districts Western Municipal Water District (WMWD) and Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) to obtain available rebates to financially supplement the Public Works projects to replace the turf with new drought tolerant plants and to modify the irrigation to improve water efficiency.
On March 10, 2015, the City Council approved the contract award for Median Turf Removal Project, Phase I which removed median turf for medians located on Alessandro Boulevard and Van Buren Boulevard. The turf was replaced with drought tolerant plants and new efficient drip systems at all locations.
On April 21, 2015, the City Council approved the contract award for Median Turf Removal Project, Phase II which removed median turf for medians located on Magnolia Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard, and Canyon Crest Drive. The turf was replaced with drought tolerant plants and new efficient drip systems at these locations.
Public Works had limited funding to improve additional medians after completion of the previous projects, and not all medians impacted by reduced irrigation have been fully enhanced with water efficient landscaping, nor could all irrigation systems be shut down without putting the health of trees at risk which would have required costly modifications to the irrigation lines. As a result, additional funding was budgeted in the 2022-2024 two-year budget cycle to similarly improve additional medians throughout the City.
DISCUSSION:
On August 13, 2024, Bid No. 8066 for Fiscal Year 2023/24 Median Landscape Improvements (Project) was posted on PlanetBids. The bid included eight locations as a Base Bid and one location as an Additive Bid. Locations were selected with an objective of geographic distribution throughout the City, based on the scope of improvements needed, cost per location, and the amount of passing motorists per day who would benefit from the enhanced medians. The following work is proposed at various locations throughout the City as the Base Bid (Attachment 1):
Improve 38 individual medians within 8 general locations including:
Iowa Avenue from University Avenue to University Village (Location 1) Iowa Avenue from Marlborough Avenue to Palmyrita Avenue (Location 2) Magnolia Avenue from Hughes Alley to Van Buren Boulevard (Location 3) Hughes Alley from Magnolia Avenue to Diana Avenue (Location 4) Central Avenue from Van Buren Boulevard to Essex Street (Location 5) Arlington Avenue from La Sierra Avenue to Heathcliff Drive (Location 6) Mission Grove Parkway from Alessandro Boulevard to Trautwein Road (Location 7) Arlington Avenue from Phoenix Avenue to Magnolia Avenue (Location 8); Scarify turf, grade soil, and apply of mulch in all locations; New water efficient plantings at all locations;
Install new irrigation systems at all locations including converting some overhead spray facilities to water efficient irrigation systems; Install new CalSense controllers and enclosures as necessary; and Install new backflows with theft prevention cages, master valves, and flow sensors.
In response to community feedback, the Additive Bid included improving landscaping and irrigation at 20 individual medians on Mission Grove Parkway from Canyon Crest Boulevard to Alessandro Boulevard. While this location was not previously planted with turf, the extensive stretch of median along Mission Grove (north) lacks water efficient irrigation and plantings. The lowest responsive bidder was determined on total cumulative cost of the Base Bid items only. However, the City reserved the right to award a contract with the Base Bid items only or in combination with the Additive Bid items. The Engineer’s Estimate for the base bid exceeded the available budget but staff was optimistic of receiving additional and more competitive bids due to the economies of scale of the larger project. Even though the base bid is 10% under the Engineer’s Estimate, we did not garner sufficient savings to complete the Additive Bid items. Staff plan to include additional median locations such as the northerly portion of Mission Grove as part of future opportunities.
There were 406 vendors notified and 49 prospective bidders on the bidders list. The City did not schedule a pre-bid job walk. Fifty-four (54) questions were submitted from the prospective bidders, and one addendum was issued by the City for this advertisement.
On September 10, 2024, seven (7) bids were received, one (1) of which was deemed non-responsive due to not uploading the correct Bid Bond documents via the City’s bidding website prior to the date set forth in the Notice Inviting Bidders. The lowest responsive and responsible bid for the Base Bid was received from Marina Landscape, Inc., of Orange, California, in the amount of $1,638,676.00, which is 10.0% under the Engineer’s Estimate.
Ranking
Bidders Name
Base Bid Amount
1 Marina Landscape, Inc.
$1,638,676.00
2 SGD Enterprises
$1,655,146.00
3 Superb Engineering
$1,716,169.77
4 David Ollis Landscape Development, Inc.
$1,719,020.00
5 Southern California Landscape, Inc.
$1,752,302.50
6 Inland Empire Landscape, Inc.
$1,838,399.75
Non-Responsive
CG Landscape
$1,332,273.00
Per Purchasing Resolution 24101, Article Five, Section 508 states, “Contracts procured through Formal Procurement shall be awarded by the Awarding Entity to the Lowest Responsive and Responsible Bidder.” The Purchasing Manager concurs that the recommended action to award Bid No. 8066 to Marina Landscape, Inc. complies with Purchasing Resolution 24101, Section 508.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This Project aligns with Strategic Priority No. 6 – Infrastructure, Mobility, and Connectivity and Goal No. 6.2 – Maintain, protect, and improve assets and infrastructure within the City’s built environment to ensure and enhance reliability, resiliency, sustainability, and facilitate connectivity.
It also aligns with each of the Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – This project addresses the community’s concerns about Riverside’s appearance and supports the State’s water conservation efforts.
Equity – This project will improve landscaping in various Wards and neighborhoods throughout the City.
Fiscal Responsibility – Public Works responsibly manages a variety of funding sources to complete various improvements including median landscaping and irrigation improvement projects.
Innovation – This project is utilizing improved irrigation equipment and will convert some overhead spray facilities to a drip system to improve water efficiency in Riverside.
Sustainability & Resiliency – This project replaces water-intensive turf with drought tolerant plantings which significantly reduce the amount of water consumption required for median maintenance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total fiscal impact of this action is $1,638,676 plus a construction contingency of $150,000. The estimated total project cost including design engineering, construction, contingencies, and contract administration is itemized in Table 1 below. Sufficient funds will be available with a carryover request that the department has made from unexpended funds from FY 2023/24. Upon Council approval of carryovers expected with a December 2024 financial report to Council, funding will be available in the General Fund, Public Works-Forestry & Landscape, Median Improvements-Landscape Maintenance project account number 9991600-421203 to cover the construction costs of the agreement. In the event that the carryover is not approved, staff will work to identify alternative funding, which may include project reprioritization, a request for supplemental appropriation, or other funding strategies.
Table 1. Project Costs
Task
Amount
Public Works Engineering Staff (In House)
$111,324
Construction Contract
$1,638,676
Construction Contingencies
$150,000
Construction Engineering, Inspection (In House)
Construction Materials Testing (TBD from Approved Panel) $100,000
Total
$2,000,000
Prepared by: Ed Lara, Principal Engineer
Approved by: Gilbert Hernandez, Public Works Director Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager Approved as to form: Jack Liu, Interim City Attorney
Attachments:
Project Location Map
Bid Award Recommendation
Presentation
Award Bid 8066 ● Page 2